Justice Stephen Breyer is expected to formally announce his retirement from the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday.
Although he was a liberal justice nominated by Bill Clinton, Breyer sided nearly 100 times with a Republican colleague from Arizona.
Breyer and Sandra Day O’Connor became close while serving together on the Supreme Court.
A digital library compiled by the local Institute named for O’Connor says Breyer joined 98 of her high-court opinions between 1994 and 2006.
Scott O’Connor said his mother and Breyer have deep respect for each other.
“They had to wrestle with the biggest and toughest cases, including the abortion cases together. And ended up on the same side of many of those close decisions,” he said.
O’Connor said his parents and the Breyers also went on vacation together.
Sandra Day O’Connor was nominated by Ronald Reagan in 1981 and retired in 2006.
She was a Supreme Court justice for more than a decade before Breyer joined the court in 1994.
